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Documentary special: Logan's future

ELIZABETH JACKSON: Hello, I'm Elizabeth Jackson and you're listening to a Radio Current Affairs documentary.

It's been dubbed Queensland's new United Nations.

Logan, just to the south of Brisbane in Queensland's south-east is now one of the fastest growing urban corridors in Australia, with more than 200 different ethnic groups living in the region.

Tensions between some of those cultural groups climaxed in January 2013, attracting national media coverage as police were called in to quell street riots.

But Logan's leaders say they want people to see the real city with its strong community spirit, and big hopes for the future.

Nance Haxton reports.

(Sound of rioting)

NANCE HAXTON: It was a tumultuous start to the year for Logan, when racial tensions culminated in four consecutive nights of fighting on a Woodridge street.

(Sound of rioting)

That resulted in the kind of national media coverage the city of Logan had hoped to avoid.

POLICE OFFICER: Guys, if you've got nothing to do with this you should start moving on. If you're not in the shop start walking home. You're going home, go.

NANCE HAXTON: At least 20 police cars and riot police in protective gear blocked off the surrounding streets in an effort to quell simmering tensions between Aboriginal people and Pacific Islanders.

They effectively cut the street in half, separating dozens of Aboriginal people standing outside one house where the flare-up began and leaving Pacific Islanders on the other side.

(Sound of people yelling)

The background to the conflict was complex, and had been simmering for years. There was the recent death of a young man hit by a train at Loganlea Station after an alleged clash with several men.

There was also the 2008 bashing death of Richard Saunders, the uncle of NRL player Johnathan Thurston.

Some parents refused to send their children to school for fear of ongoing attacks. One of the families in the conflict moved to the Gold Coast, to start a new life away from the hostility.

The Queensland Premier Campbell Newman met elders from the community and the Mayor Pam Parker swiftly organised a city summit to talk about what was happening in the region.

They called it the City of Choice summit, and more than a thousand people attended.

(Choir singing)

NANCE HAXTON: Since then, a group of young people have led the way in trying to highlight a side of Logan they say is more representative, but rarely portrayed.

They formed an acapella singing group to showcase a vibrant and positive mix of people who love living in the city.

(Choir singing)

NANCE HAXTON: Councillor Steve Swenson formed the choir after the community summit.

STEVE SWENSON: One of the things that was frustrating me about what you hear about Logan City is that 100 per cent of the young people are labelled with the same tag as the 1 per cent who have questionable behaviour. And I know from having worked in the city for a lot of years with young people that our city is full of great people.

NANCE HAXTON: One Hope member and newly elected school captain, Vaiuta Faletui, says they let their singing do the talking, to show that most people in Logan do in fact get along.

VAIUTA FALETUI: I hope that we can make that change in the media. I hope it doesn't continue to put out there the bad stuff about this area. Like, it's a good place.

NANCE HAXTON: Chris Tamwoy is a young man from Thursday Island in the Torres Strait who's very proud of his heritage, and his home, Logan. He has just graduated from Year 12.

(Sound of guitar being played)

Chris writes and performs his own brand of guitar music and counts John Butler as one of his inspirations. He performs with One Hope in nursing homes, hospitals and other venues around Queensland's south-east.

Chris says the media portrayal of Logan is inaccurate.

CHRIS TAMWOY: Growing up in Logan's fantastic. I come from the most multicultural place in Australia and I always say that to everyone when they ask me what's Logan like? I guess when it comes to the media, the media likes to chuck in their hot spices and change the way of, an image of Logan. There's a lot of talent hidden in Logan.

NANCE HAXTON: He now plans to become a politician and take his message of Closing the Gap in education around Australia.

He says without the opportunities he was given in Logan at school, he would have struggled to graduate.

CHRIS TAMWOY: Most of the Indigenous kids here actually go through with the assistance given by teachers and support systems put in place by the schools and they've helped me out a lot and obviously, you know, I've got to the point where I've graduated and that's a pretty big achievement and I might be that 1 per cent to help close that gap.

NANCE HAXTON: So it would be good to see that support rolled out in other places that you've experienced, do you think?

CHRIS TAMWOY: Yeah, that would be really good to have the support system, you know, set out there but it's not going to happen overnight, you know, it may take many years. But all the hard work pays off.

(Choir singing)

NANCE HAXTON: Logan Mayor Pam Parker was moved to tears by this rehearsal from Chris Tamwoy and One Hope.

PAM PARKER: They're inspirational. They give you goose bumps and they do make me emotional every time I hear them sing because we hear so much of the negative towards the youth. And I get to see so many of our young ones who are inspirational and they give me great hope for the future.

NANCE HAXTON: Councillor Parker says Logan is nothing like the city struggling with racial and social tension that she sees represented regularly in the media.

She says even in the 10 months since the City of Choice summit, she's seen tangible changes.

PAM PARKER: If a child can't read in grades one, two or three, they can't do grade five, they can't do grade seven and they can't do high school. And you've got behavioural issues. Let's prevent that. Let's capture all these children that are falling through the cracks and I'm so proud that this year through the City of Choice summit Logan City Council has 44 staff that volunteer their time in reading programs in Woodridge, Woodridge North and Harrisville school.

And I remember the principal at Harrisville State School saying to me recently, she said Pam, we've had the best Year Three NAPLAN (National Assessment Program - Literacy and Numeracy) results we have ever had and the reading program is a contributing factor and I don't think there is any greater legacy any of us can leave than to shape a young person's life for the future.

NANCE HAXTON: This is one of the fastest growing corridors in Australia essentially too, isn't it?

PAM PARKER: Absolutely. In this corridor we are going to be providing about 70,000 dwellings over the next 20 to 30 years.

NANCE HAXTON: The multicultural make up of Logan, how crucial is that to the identity of this city?

PAM PARKER: Multiculturalism is a facet of Logan and it's about ensuring that all the migrants that come here, and we have a high percentage of unskilled migrants and I think that's something that needs to be reviewed, but when they get here they need to be able to have the support to learn the language, English support, plus they need the skilled so they can be job ready so they don't become disenfranchised.

But we also have intergenerational unemployed and I think we need to put a focus on that, and that's what the City of Choice leadership team will be focussing on. We have pockets of Logan that have 0.3 per cent unemployment and there's pockets like Woodridge that have 18 per cent.

Our average is 7.2 per cent all over in Logan and we would be lower than the state average if we did not have Woodridge with a high percentage. So we have got to address this. We've got to recognise there's a problem there and we've got to go about bringing about real change for the people in that area and particularly giving hope to the young people and the families that live in that area.

NANCE HAXTON: The State Aboriginal Affairs Minister, Glen Elmes, is also concerned about the population push in Logan from interstate and overseas migrants.

He says the State Government is looking to relieve some of that pressure by moving some residents out of Logan altogether.

GLEN ELMES: I'm looking in the early part of next year of visiting a council that I know very well in central Queensland to look at ways where we can take people who live say in Logan and give them an opportunity and jobs in central Queensland where they can start a new life.

They're not going to go there if there's no future. So you have to provide the job opportunities and provide the future and let people see that yes, there is a future for me and a future for my family by moving there and getting myself involved in the community.

NANCE HAXTON: He says despite such radical strategies, it doesn't mean the government thinks Logan is teetering on the edge of social collapse.

GLEN ELMES: I don't think you'd find too many places anywhere in Australia that have that sort of diversity. So in that community, like any community, from time to time there are tensions and it's up to then the Commonwealth and for the state and for the council to work together, and the community most importantly, to work together to see how they can ease those tensions out. But Logan is a wonderful community, it has a great future ahead of it and some of the most beautiful people in the world you'd ever want to meet.

NANCE HAXTON: Are there racial tensions though that do need to be dealt with on a government level that seemed to erupt really in that riot in Woodridge?

GLEN ELMES: Well, can I say first of all I wouldn't call it a riot. The media called it a riot.

One thing that some sections of the media are very good at doing is making sure they get their tabloid headline for the day and then having got that, they move on.

They leave a lot of despair and anger and mistrust behind them because they've moved on looking for the next story. That's the nature of the media but was there a problem? Yes there was. Is there some ongoing problems in Logan? Yes there is. Can they be solved? They certainly can.

It's not going to be something that you solve in a couple of months. It will be something that the community, together with the Government, but the community up front will need to work on forever.

NANCE HAXTON: Is this more an issue of social disadvantage than racial conflict?

GLEN ELMES: That's certainly a case as well. The unemployment level in Logan is pretty high, income levels for those people who are working in many areas is pretty low. We have to find job opportunities, futures if you like for people, particularly newly arrived migrants and refugees and so forth - not in places like Logan because overwhelmingly at the moment, that's where they go.

We need to find places where they can secure the future for their families and themselves in other parts of the state where there are good long term jobs available to them that provide a future.

NANCE HAXTON: For other community leaders in Logan, the focus is not so much on moving people out, but giving the people who live there access to better opportunities in life.

Leaders have pointed to a lack of options for many Pacific Islanders after they finish school, as they have to pay upfront fees for university, which most can't afford.

Lesley Chenoweth is a Professor of Social Work and the Head of Griffith University's Logan campus.

One of her biggest concerns is that only 20 per cent of the student population are men.

She says if intergenerational unemployment and poverty in Logan is to be tackled, it's crucial that further education is accessible for all.

LESLEY CHENOWETH: There are also other barriers, and we've been involved in a number of projects here at Griffith around developing aspiration, building aspiration broadly in the community, in the schools and with families, but if your family is really struggling economically, there's always a pressure for you to leave school and go and get a job and get any job.

We've seen a lot of very promising students who've just had to leave, even those with really strong tertiary entrance who have obvious ability and potential, but they've not been able to proceed.

NANCE HAXTON: So how do you overcome that?

LESLEY CHENOWETH: We've had to look at other ways. I mean what are other ways that we can support those promising students to actually get a degree? Because we know if you get a degree it is a very powerful vehicle out of poverty. It does ensure usually, that you have a higher income, that you have more likelihood of sustained employment and career prospects.

Having a good education and whether that's further education at TAFE or coming to university is the most powerful way of breaking that cycle and it is about breaking a cycle.

NANCE HAXTON: Queensland's Aboriginal Affairs Minister Glen Elmes says the Federal Government should make HECS available to Pacific Islander and New Zealand students to prevent social problems that come from a lack of opportunities.

GLEN ELMES: When I talk to Pacific Islander people it comes up time and time and time again. It is an enormous problem because of something that is not in their control.

NANCE HAXTON: While Griffith University has scholarships in place for needy students, one of the most powerful changes to bring more men onto campus has been far more down to Earth.

The university has started a rugby league football team.

Tyrone Girle is the vice-president and captain of the Griffith University Redbacks, as well as studying a masters in human services.

The team came from wooden spooners in its first year, to this year winning the Queensland Universities rugby league title over the much more fancied team from the University of Queensland.

TYRONE GIRLE: Yeah, we won the premiership, so.

NANCE HAXTON: And that came from coming last the year before? That's a pretty big achievement.

TYRONE GIRLE: Yeah last year we finished last but we didn't really have the appropriate like coaching staff or anything. We had no one coaching us. So it was, us boys always had the quality or well, we got a few more players this year, it was just about getting the extra edge.

NANCE HAXTON: Senetenari Tamale plays in the second row of the Redbacks and is studying to be a secondary high school teacher.

He says having a football team is pivotal to make university a more attractive option for young men in Logan.

SENETENARI TAMALE: When you think about university all you think about is study, you know. All you think about is books but you don't think about, you know, the hobbies, part-time stuff you can do and rugby league is one of them.

It's a real attraction for young males who growing up in Logan, everyone knows there is a lot of good league players from Logan so it's a real attraction for young males to come out to university, study and have sport as a side.

NANCE HAXTON: Because I suppose the image of the study, like you say, it does seem to be very heavy on the library and the books and this helps with that, do you think, for some of the guys in Logan?

SENETENARI TAMALE: Yeah of course. Like it's a main problem with young males, especially young Pacific Islander males. They tend to look at study as a thing for girls. They have this old perception that a man should go out and work hard, you know, get his hands dirty but we're in a good country and there is plenty of opportunities. You can do whatever you want. If you want to go work in the trade or if you want to go to university, you can.

NANCE HAXTON: He and Tyrone are so passionate about the opportunities that come from study, that they travel to schools throughout south-east Queensland performing plays that encourage young people to think about further education.

TYRONE GIRLE: We just want to spread the message that, you know, uni can be fun or uni is fun. Like you're studying what you love, you get to do what you love, like we get to play rugby still, and you get lots of opportunity at university like you get to travel, you get better paying jobs, you know, you get all those benefits.

NANCE HAXTON: Other sporting initiatives have had a significant impact this year. For the first time Indigenous teams were invited to participate in the prestigious Kings and Queens Pacific Rugby tournament in Logan - an important competition for choosing future representative talent.

Aboriginal elder Robyn Williams says this was crucial to improving relations between the two communities.

ROBYN WILLIAMS: Now that's a big step in trying to get people together and it was a great three weeks. It was just, even though the rain spoilt it on the last day, but the girls won it, the Indigenous girls won the comp. But it was fantastic, like they've never been invited before.

NANCE HAXTON: So it sounds like this year there has acknowledgement of some of those underlying issues in Logan and how can we deal with that, let's be honest about that?

ROBYN WILLIAMS: People are doing it in their own way. For me, personally I just talk with people and just explain to them about my culture and what goes on in the area. I try not to dwell on the bad things.

My priority in my life is what's happened in the past has happened in the past. I just want us to go forward but there is a Yugambeh word that we say coolganbubuy (phonetic) which means going forward and that's what I want to do.

NANCE HAXTON: The improved social cohesion in Logan has been noted by the city's police force as well.

Mike Pearson has been the officer in charge of Logan police district for 17 years.

He says there's a noticeable turnaround in the city since the conflicts that marked the start of the year.

MIKE PEARSON: We have this fantastic social cohesiveness that comes into place. One great and the greatest example of that was after we had the problems in early January this year with different cultures coming together.

What it identified for us was an underpinning issue that we had to have a good look at in this city and the Mayor stepped up with her council's support and took on that leadership role and said let's do something about this. Let's have a look at it.

When you look at my role, which really, we play a bandaid role as police; we go around and fix things up when they're broken. It's an absolute pleasure to see people coming up, stepping forward, taking on leadership roles and wanting to solve those problems at their own level.

NANCE HAXTON: So what's changed since that incident you touched on there? Was it the summit? What has changed since then to hopefully prevent something like that happening again?

MIKE PEARSON: Of course it could happen again. Let's not be naive about this. What's changed? We've got a structure around it now to take it forward but I can assure you it comes down to the individual people in this city that are all committed to make this city a place to live in, a safe secure place to live, visit and do business. Everyone is committed to this and you only need to walk the streets, as I know you have done Nance, and spoken to people and you get that feeling that they believe, they truly believe in this city.

NANCE HAXTON: Acting chief superintendent Noel Powers says the extra police numbers the state government allocated to Logan after the disturbance, has had a significant effect on crime in the area.

NOEL POWERS: Our robberies, our break and enter places, stealing from cars, our unlawful use of really big ticket items, we are trending down and it really is remarkable to actually see that. It's pleasing for me.

NANCE HAXTON: And it's a clear trend even sort of since the incidents earlier in the year, that's really come down?

NOEL POWERS: Since the beginning of the year we have seen a significant reduction and if we can keep that, I'm a happy man.

NANCE HAXTON: He says with extra staff they have more police to do foot patrols, which has had a dramatic effect on community confidence.

NOEL POWERS: It was a traditional method of police that's been around for many, many years. I considered it of value to be able to put, get the people out of the car, get them walking the street, get them interacting with a number of people and particularly around Logan Central there itself.

You've got the access services area, who are the first stop if you want for all the refugees, for all the displaced people. So you're getting many, many cultures in around this area.

The ability of police to be able to interact with people, talk to them just on a friendly basis, one on one, helps break down those barriers, helps the people who come from cultures where they've had probably a horrendous experience with the police to be able to give a better idea of where we are.

It instils confidence, it instils trust and it gives my people the ability to be able to see who's around the place, the ability to be able to deal with different people and different cultures and get some idea of what actually makes this suburb and this area tick.

NANCE HAXTON: Wesley Enoch is the artistic director of the Queensland Theatre Company, and the first indigenous Australian to head a state theatre company in Australia.

He grew up in Logan, and now wants to give something back. He's on the leadership team that came out of the City of Choice summit, and is passionate about changing people's views of the city.

WESLEY ENOCH: Look, it's interesting. I was always told that I went to a really poor school. I was always told that we were rough and all that kind of stuff. Never felt like that when you lived in it and there's a point where you go sometimes there is a media perception that feeds itself. And so there does come a point where I think Logan is seen for all the things that might be negative rather than seeing all the things that are positive.

I reckon what happens is the media like to grab hold of a story and say this is what a city is about and you go, no it's not. It's actually more than that and when someone does something wrong in Brisbane, you don't think Brisbane is all like that because there's a whole range of stories.

NANCE HAXTON: How much of that is misrepresentative and how much is the reality? I mean, are there difficulties, conflicts between cultures for example Aboriginal and Pacific Islander cultures that need to be dealt with, frankly, or is it a much broader picture?

WESLEY ENOCH: There are always going to be tensions, I think, when neighbours start to rub up against each other and I feel that what we're seeing in Logan is some of the kind of teething problems that in fact the rest of the country is dealing with. We should look at Logan as a marker of the future. Logan is what the rest of the country will be - a mashing together of a whole lot of cultures and people from around the world.

When you realise that 42 per cent of all Australians were either born overseas or have a parent born overseas you understand that Logan is a little bit more like what the real Australia is than people acknowledge.

Logan is a touch stone, a beautiful kind of litmus test for how we as a country can deal with being true global citizens.

NANCE HAXTON: Local Labor MP Desley Scott says the progress of Logan this year is proof that racial tension can be overcome.

DESLEY SCOTT: It did focus our community. It's good to see that it wasn't just a talk fest and that there are actually plans coming to fruition that will just bring the community together.

But you know, if you talk to our locals here, you will find that the thing we treasure most is the spirit that we have in our community. It is very, very strong and while there may be outbreaks here and there of young people maybe clashing, nonetheless, we're never going to have a community free from any of that.

We have to be realistic but we love living here, we love working here and I think people are just rusted on who just treasure the community here. So we're all very positive for a great future for Logan.

NANCE HAXTON: And business people agree. Barry Lane runs a number of coffee franchises in town, and says it's a great place to do business.

BARRY LANE: One of the greatest things that I love about Logan is the community. Now I came from a finance background prior to being in the hospitality industry. I see a lot of business being conducted in our stores. I see from interviews to signing contracts, to all sorts of things going on in our stores.

We have a policy of all inclusive, not only within our team of 80 people who are very multicultural, I have a daughter with intellectual disability, we employ about six people with intellectual disability and one of those people actually won best female employee for Logan Disability Awards so I'm very, very proud of that.

NANCE HAXTON: Niki Dowding from John Paul College is also campaigning for people to be less judgemental of Logan.

NIKI DOWDING: I think Logan is an amazing city, I think it's an absolute cultural melting pot but it's also a hidden gem. I think people don't know about Logan City and when you look at what Logan City has to offer, I mean there's 300,000 residents, we've got 60 per cent of the community is rural or semi-rural and that's never going to change into the future. It's very affordable housing. I mean we've got an amazingly strong Indigenous history.

We've got incredible markets. You'll pick up better fruit and vegies, you'll pick up fresher produce, you'll pick up amazing food from Africa, from India, from Asia, from, you know, from Polynesia, wherever. You can get so much incredible food and you'll go away having spent very little money but carrying three ecobags full of produce and people just don't know about that sort of thing.

You know, it's a place for everybody, for every nationality and I think the media has a lot to answer for in that they will pick up on one tiny issue, that's a cultural issue between families, and totally neglect to tell the good stories that happen here.

NANCE HAXTON: It's a message that One Hope is starting to spread through song - that Logan is a desirable place to live.

(Choir singing)

ELIZABETH JACKSON: That report from Nance Haxton and you've been listening to a Radio Current Affairs documentary.